


butterflies

by apricotzel



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Everybody Lives, Fix-It, Fluff, Gerry Keay Is A Disaster, M/M, Mutual Pining, No Angst, No beta we die like archival assistants, No beta we kayak like Tim, Nothing Hurts, Pining, Pining Gerard Keay, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, they're so in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:26:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26867362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apricotzel/pseuds/apricotzel
Summary: “He was nearly perfect in almost every way.But he’s got shit taste in movies.”A collection of the thoughts of Gerry Keay regarding one Jonathan Sims, The Archivist.
Relationships: Gerard Keay & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Gerard Keay/Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist
Comments: 5
Kudos: 89





	butterflies

Gerry Keay was in love. 

Which was weird, for him at least. After living over decades without even feeling a flicker of warmth, it took a while for him to realize what exactly had happened. Love had crept in through the back door of his mind, snuck over his wall, and nestled securely and unmovingly in his heart, coiled tightly around him like a snake.

He couldn’t help it, not really. There were thousands of words in the English language and none of them could ever even hope to begin to amount to what Gerry felt, but if he had to say he’d start with Jon’s eyes. Those were what drew him in, at first.

Owlish and confused most of the time is what Gerry would have described them if you had asked him when he first met Jon. A dull brown of a man who simply didn’t know what he was doing. But looking closer revealed more, and Gerry quickly discovered that Jon’s eyes were piercing in the way he stared at you; as if he was seeing all different angles of you at once. It ran a shiver through Gerry’s spine the first time Jon looked at him with an astonishing amount of clarity. They pinpointed exactly the places Gerry had spent years hiding away, locking up and burying under witty jokes and ashes of books. Tore down his whole kingdom with one slow blink beneath thick eyelashes, and made his heart seem to stop. He couldn’t just chalk that up to the Eye, though. Jon was analytical, smart. It was the first time Gerry saw him for more than ‘The Archivist’.

Yet they weren’t just piercing, because he would always quirk one eyebrow up when Gerry told a joke that was at least slightly amusing and when Jon glanced at him, in those moments of half humor, Gerry could feel a ripple of warmth pass over him. Then, Jon looked away and collected himself. It was that warmth that caused Gerry to look closer, drowning in the dark brown of them. On his way down he caught dark green flecks when Jon was overworking himself or the way gold seemed to pop up when the sun hit sleepy eyes perfectly.

Moving in with Jon didn’t help ease how lovestruck Gerry was, even though they had been dating for a while. How was he to describe that when Gerry woke up and shuffled to the kitchen Jon was always there, in routine, with a cup of tea that had gone cold and long hair pulled up into a mess of a bun that was always on the verge of collapse and that Gerry’s heart thrummed in his chest so much he thought he might die? A few black strands, streaked with gray always fell out of one side and framed Jon’s face perfectly, though unevenly. Completely lost in a book about Greek mythology - something Jon had recently gotten interested in - chewing his lip softly while always playing with the corner of the top right page. How could Gerry begin to phrase that when he saw Jon curled in a kitchen chair wearing pajama bottoms and a shirt,  _ Gerry’s _ shirt, that he wanted to do nothing but hold Jon close and never let go? When Gerry wrapped his arms around Jon and Jon lets out a startled noise before a soft, airy laugh it was better than anything he’s ever experienced. Jon says a quiet good morning while running his hands gently over Gerry’s hair and Gerry buries his face in Jon’s neck, breathing in the scent of tea and dust on books. Tiny things that seemed to make life worth living.

Tiny things, like the ink on Jon’s skin, small notes or reminders that were blurred or smudged, covering the palms of his hands and down his arms. The matching ink of a bored Jon reaching over and gently drawing on Gerry’s pale skin, small little notes or stars, things that said  _ I love you _ more than words ever will. The way when they do the dishes together Jon always takes a handful of bubbles and places it on Gerry’s nose for Gerry to whine about and attempt to flick off while Jon grins maniacally like he just pulled off the world’s most elaborate trick. Gerry loved almost everything about Jon, the way he brushed Gerry’s hair gently enough to never even tug - let alone pull, or the way his eyebrows furrowed when he didn’t understand what you said, or the way he always looks away when he finds what you said funny. How Jon always rants for hours and hours about the things he researches in his free time, the way he offers to dye Gerry’s hair, and takes him to the park. He’ll shuffle around in the kitchen like a lost puppy before he gets some sort of caffeine in him, and the confused look on his face is adorable. He always runs his hands up and down Gerry’s back in early mornings and his breath fanning across Gerry’s collarbone when cuddling feels almost sacred. 

Moments where even the universe doesn’t seem to touch them. Pulled away into their world, a quiet hush when everything keeps on turning. The entire rest of the world falls away when Gerry wakes up too early because of a nightmare, and Jon is always there, wiping away his tears and gentle whispers breaking the dawn. 

Tender hugs or soft fingers tracing cheekbones and chapped lips felt ethereal against his own. The subtle way his chest rises and falls in sync with Gerry’s when they press against each other, watching a movie or even just resting, taking in every moment with each other.

He was nearly perfect in almost every way.

But he’s got shit taste in movies.

If you could even call them that. Gerry’s weary of arguing against the pros and cons of watching another documentary or some horror film that came out, every single debate with Jon he treats like he’s a lawyer fighting tooth and nail for his client’s life until Gerry’s will is worn away with every ‘therefore’ or ‘objection’. 

Also, he’s a headache in the kitchen. Gerry has to watch him like a hawk let alone Jon casually place his hand to test the heat of a pan before Gerry swoops in and pulls him back, listening to him indignantly groan and whine about how it wouldn’t have hurt as Gerry gently checks the skin that came too near to the flame.

He’ll nag at Gerry for not getting enough sleep but pour all of his attention into a book until Gerry has to physically pick him up and carry him to bed and then wake up early to worm his way into getting less sleep like it was some sort of contest.

He does a thing when you’re talking where if you pronounce a word wrong he’ll butt in to correct you no matter the situation and if you give him a glare he’ll shrug and give a small smirk and nod to carry on as if he wasn’t the reason for the interruption in the first place. 

He’ll sleep spread across the bed or bundle himself in blankets, every other fortnight Gerry shivers and tosses and turns until he has to forcefully rob Jon of his cocoon, and the following morning filled with mumbles and muttered complaints until Gerry makes some sort of tea to apologize. 

Seldom happens when Gerry asks a question and doesn’t catch handfuls of ‘why do you want to know?’ and nosy inquires. Jon’s overprotectiveness can begin to really grate, sending five concerned glances in a second because you do something slightly out of routine. Just for once Gerry would like to go get the mail before eating breakfast without being accused of skipping meals like Jon is some all-mighty judge, wielding teaspoons as his gavel and sometimes it seems like he analyzes every move like Gerry’s just gonna up and collapse one day. 

Gerry struggles to tell the difference between Jon’s dry humor and sarcasm for when he’s actually upset. Jon would rather choke to death than talk about his feelings and really, he’s just the worse to play games with. Any game including guessing is thrown out the window, Gerry even figured out he was cheating during Jenga. The only thing they can do is play board games, and even then Jon tries his best to find loopholes in the rules.

They don’t make sense half the time. No, Jon, you can’t dismantle capitalism in Monopoly, just take the go-to jail card.

But Gerry knew he wasn’t perfect either. Forgetfulness was his empire, dates like birthdays or anniversaries slipped through his fingers faster than water. Walking into a room to only stand there in despair as he tried to grasp hints of what he was looking for was a daily practice that he wishes he could skip. The flat was filled with noises of his music so loud it shook the walls, and he can’t begin to count the times he’s opened the fridge just to close it and open it again. 

He leaves his coats on the back of chairs despite the closet being closer to the door, and his laundry piled onto the floor could be used as small mountains. He barely ever cleans. The days where he can’t seem to make it out of bed make up most of the winter months, granted Jon’s infinite patience never seems to waver on those hard times. 

He takes chunks out of the budget to maintain his hair, not being able to stand the light blonde roots of it. He doesn’t clean his piercings and his hair becomes a rat’s nest before Jon can get to it. Paranoia puts him on edge when the building creaks, and he always finds it better to just drift around Jon.

His desire to be alone and absolute hatred of it are always at war, causing him to go out for hours at a time only to not part from Jon’s side for the rest of the day. He doesn’t own any formal wear and despises fancy restaurants. His ways of showing affection include clinging onto Jon and snarky comments. He’s a fucking wreck at folding clothes and the noise of the vacuum sends him curling into a ball. Stubborn as a mule, he hates to compromise. Both their egos are far too fragile to apologize so when an argument does spark up the apartment is tense for days before one of them decides they miss the other too much to be proud. 

Don’t get him wrong, though. These are all things Gerry loves.

Gerry didn’t know a lot about love, to be honest. But he knew that it wasn’t some sort of pick and choose the type of deal. He didn’t choose to only love the positives of Jon, and Jon with him. They learned about the flaws of the other, and while there were many, they were manageable. They could work on them. Sure, Jon’s a perfectionist, and Gerry’s forgetful, these are things that they can live with. Being perfect is too unrealistic for Gerry’s taste and the flaws add a sort of rawness to love he could never place before. To put yourself out there, to truly show the good, the bad, and the ugly and still be loved unconditionally was something amazing to him. He didn’t love Jon ‘in spite of his flaws’, he loved Jon with them. And Jon loved him, all angles of him. 

Jon loved Gerry. Gerry loved Jon. It was as simple as that.

That also includes the loud cracking of Jon’s knuckles when he gets too bored, and the rude way Gerry kicks his feet up on the table, the way Jon stutters when he’s flustered because he lacks any charisma, the way Gerry yawns too much for someone who drinks that much coffee, the way Jon puts too much salt in his food, the way Gerry always is craving something they don’t have in the house, the way Jon always says they have food at home, the way Gerry can’t seem to finish a book, the way Jon never seems to have enough to read, the way Gerry hates textures of certain foods with an unexplained passion, the way Jon has no standard at all for the food he eats, the way Gerry always tracks mud into the house, the way, the way, the way.

**Author's Note:**

> did i just listen to butterflies by samsa on loop and write this? yes. yes i did. 
> 
> this was inspired by a thread with twitter user GERRYC0RE where we just. talked about jongerry for hours. AND I'D DO IT AGAIN!
> 
> sorry if any of this was ooc or not accurate this is. my first time writing gerry but i hope you enjoyed!!


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